2007-07-13 04:10:51 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
was that pun intended? lol
anywho, lightening is really just a transfer of energy, either from the clouds to the ground, or vica verca, and sometimes just from cloud to cloud. when the lightening bolt starts, it will stay lit long enough for enough of the energy to transfer. usually this will take just a second or two, but during that time, tons of power will have moved.
think of it like a modem..... the cloud is the internet, and where the lightening hits is your computer. when you download a large file, that is the lightening strike. that lightening bolt will stay lit until the "file" is "downloaded". then it will go out.
make sense?
2007-07-13 04:23:00 · answer #1 · answered by swatthefly 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not only are there multiple strikes down the same path over the space of less than a second - ground to cloud as well as cloud to ground - but the flash actually produces an afterimage on the retina that lingers for a few seconds longer. It's akin to the little patches of light you 'see' when you blink after somebody takes a photo of your face using the flash.
2007-07-15 03:20:06 · answer #2 · answered by Alfhild 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because a lightning strike is not one pulse of electricity. Once a leader has forged a path that the lightning discharge will follow, multiple pulses will surge down this path. As many as 10 but commonly less. This could take one to two seconds.
2007-07-13 13:03:25 · answer #3 · answered by DaveSFV 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Electricity moves fast, but not at the speed of light.
2007-07-13 04:14:06 · answer #4 · answered by wayfaroutthere 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
everything takes time and also you see lighting after it has hit the ground so some of its energy has been absorbed so it moves slower i would guess..
2007-07-13 04:19:15 · answer #5 · answered by adie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Saw that, pardon!
2007-07-13 04:18:49 · answer #6 · answered by Dragoner 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋